r/FeminismUncensored

Hi everyone! We're EUobserver, and we recently interviewed an MEP leading work on women's health across Europe.

One thing that really struck us while reporting the story was how many experts still point to the same problems: women are often diagnosed later for certain cancers, many conditions that primarily affect women remain under-researched, and women's health is still frequently underfunded compared with other areas of medicine.

We'd love to hear from you not just about the article, but about your experiences.

👉 What do you think is the most overlooked issue in women's healthcare today?

Is there a condition, symptom, or broader issue you wish received far more attention from doctors, researchers, policymakers, or even the media?

We'd genuinely like to learn from your perspectives as we continue covering women's health.

✋

A victory for our sisters in Colombia!

I am a brown Muslim guy, ultraconservative, definitely not a feminist

I believe in traditional gender roles and preserving the values and culture of my people

It seems to me that feminism actively supports the kind of Western imperialism that is so toxic for my people

Feminists actively supported the US invasions and wars against Afghanistan and Iran in the name of “liberating” our women

Feminists say they fight for a woman’s right to choose what to wear. But I never see feminists condemning laicite laws in Europe and Quebec which penalize women for wearing burqas or even headscarves and abayas to school

That screams hypocrisy to me.

The whole situation is made more complicated by the reality of gay men dating and having sex with other men. Men are typically critically important in that scenario. So for a feminist gay man, what is the appropriate path to centering women, prioritizing them over men?

I strongly believe that all men who “joke” about rape are sexual predators in one way or another. Even if they haven’t physically harmed a woman (yet), they do not view women as human. There is no way a person who is not predatory would “joke” about rape. Rape is the most horrific thing which could be inflicted onto a human, so to joke about it, especially if you are a man, knowing that men are the main perpetrators, could only mean that you are a predator yourself, even if it’s just in the way you view women. As a man, wouldn’t you want to avoid joking about rape knowing that your own gender is the perpetrator?

To all women, please avoid men who have ever made a remotely misogynistic joke, especially about rape. You are not safe with them. From first hand experience I can confirm that all men who I have heard make rape jokes, or any other misogynistic jokes, have turned out to be predators.

here's an example i recently experienced, and have explained to my boyfriend since:

if i ask for a back massage, and it ends with you trying to stick it in... i am missing out on a full back rub. my intention wasnt foreplay, but muscle pain relief (and the pleasant scent of my rose Lush massage bar).

Back rubs feel nice. I like it as much as someone braiding my hair. Sex feels nice too, im not against sex, but now my back rub is interrupted

men are so simple, i guess my comparison would be turning the TV off in the middle of the world cup game to give you a BJ. like theyre great, im sure he'd like one later that day or week, but NOT in exchange for missing the game. sometimes they just want to watch soccer and arent horny... just like women!

now when im offered a back rub, or something similar where a typical man would initiate or anticipate sex, i either decline and miss out, or i accept and then basically dread it because i expect something is going to change.

maybe its worse for me with ADHD and pathological demand avoidance, because when im explicitly asked for sex, i IMMEDIATELY dry up. i think the only way i like it is spontaneous passion. no "hey what if we did xyz later?" because now im trying to convince myself im like totally horny!

There are many factors that work against women. More often than not, we're curbed by external issues. It's important to acknowledge them.

But when, do you think, is it time to focus inward and call yourself out for being a perpetual victim? Because surely there must be instances where we're responsible for our own problems.

So there's something that happened today that I feel like I need to get off of my chest. Today, my next-door neighbor abandoned her cat, and it was a female cat. And she abandoned the cat midday, early afternoon. And as I was sitting outside, because I just went outside for some fresh air, I noticed one of the male cats that my mom and I feed. We feed a group of, I would say, about three to four cats we feed regularly. And there is a male cat that comes, and he is there, and typically the cat and I have a friendly relationship. I have a cat in my house, so I know that male cat, and he's a black cat. And while I went outside for some fresh air, I saw my neighbor's cat outside. And my mom was at home, and she stood in the screen door, and she said, yeah, our neighbor doesn't want the cat anymore. And then Mom said, yeah, he's been trying to sleep with her. And I looked at the cat cuddling, and at first, to my very innocent eyes, I just assumed they were in a relationship. But I did know the cat trying to get away, but I wasn't really sure what I was looking at. I was just like, maybe the cat, like generally, these were my thoughts. Maybe the cat is a baby, because the cat is very small. I was like, maybe the cat is the baby of this bigger cat, and that's why they're doing a lot of licking. But I was like, wait, they're different colors. And I was like, but maybe, I don't know, maybe it's a baby cat. Like, literally, that was where my mind was going first. And only when my mom introduced the idea that the cat was trying to sleep with and mount that other cat, did

I really start to process what actually was happening. And throughout that time, the cat was trying to get away, swat at the black cat. And the cat just kept trying to mount her, and of course, there's no other way to say this, repopulate with her. And the cat was trying to get away, he would bite the cat's neck, hold it down, the cat would still try to get away, hiss, and all of these things, like let out certain cries. And I was really distraught by this. And as someone who is a victim and survivor of sexual violence, this hit me really hard. So my mom and I finally let the cat in, just to get away from that cat. And I know if I was to have to hear that, and I knew something bad and awful happened, it would re-traumatize me. So it was safer to put the cat inside. But this really got me thinking about women. And as a woman, how vulnerable we were before laws were in place to protect us, and to protect our bodies and protect our autonomy. And right now those rights are being attacked, and I won't deny that. But at least we have something. There is some prosecution that can happen, where people can support you if something like this happens. And the sexual violence I saw with those cats, I immediately made a parallel between the female human experience and the female cat experience.

The only difference is this cat doesn't have systems in place to protect her. And the male cat faced no consequences for what he's doing to her. It made me have to contend with the idea how dangerous the world could be and is, but especially the potential danger of the world, especially if there were no laws in place. And it really had me in my head. And of course, I had already been re-traumatized just seeing the attempt. But it just really made me think how vulnerable women are. And the way that I saw that male cat consistently pursue the female cat, I was very disturbed and bothered by all of it. And I just, I couldn't even take it as, oh, he must be really motivated. Because the cat seemed to be refusing, the female cat was refusing. And I was like, how could you do that? And given the size difference, because again, I thought that the male cat was like the dad or somebody, because the cat was so small. I was disturbed. But again, it just made me have to contend with the idea how vulnerable women and females are in this world. And it just made me reflect on my own safety and humanity, and how grateful that I am to be human, that there's laws in place, especially as a lesbian woman, you know? Because women and our bodies and our boundaries are not protected.

That's a real problem. And I, before, used to shit on women a lot because I would be like, under patriarchy, women have been taught to be competitors and be unfriendly towards other women. And it just made me think, maybe what women experiencing isn't because there's something inherently foul about women, but because women are living in restrictive and unsafe environments that they have to develop all these trauma-based behaviors and strategies just to survive. We're all like crabs in a barrel at this point. And it's very unfortunate, but it made me, it grounded me in the reality of the violence that women face, and some of the behaviors and patterns that we see in female populations, and how they're the manifestation of such unsafety and cruelty and powerlessness, and violation and exploitation. So I made this more to like put down my thoughts, because I just could not sit with this anymore. I felt like I had to get it out, because what happened today just made me feel very unsafe, especially in a very lawless world. Like, imagine if the world was lawless, imagine how vulnerable women would be.

It made me think, men can't even control themselves. Again, this was like me being in fight or flight. I know a lot of groups of people are different, men are different, women are different. But it just made me think, if there was no laws in place, as a lesbian, if I say no to a man, will I be attacked the same way this female cat would be? My sexuality isn't respected, my autonomy, my boundaries aren't respected. Like, and then even women who are attracted to men, it's also violent and very dehumanizing as well, too. So just overall, it was very, I guess, humbling, because it brought me down to earth about the violence that women face and how vulnerable we are.

Every 'guy' that denies feminism shall be reborn in Afganisthan as a girl with the memory of their past privileges.

I feel really weird about the focus on male loneliness in the US when the hyper-individualistic ideals of the country just make it a lonely place in general.

Anyways, I was curious to find any academic literature on research on the so-called “male loneliness epidemic” and couldn’t find anything. I tried to find the original source, but I really couldn’t. It seems to be based on how during the Biden presidency, the surgeon general declared there was a “loneliness epidemic” in general. Any thoughts or comments? If anyone can confirm an academic source on research supporting this, I’d be grateful. Until I see proof of otherwise, I’m convinced that this was created for men to throw themselves a pity party and that the US culture is individualistic and isolating for everyone.